The kickoff to the American Ninja Warrior 2017 season began in Los Angeles, California. For this season there was a change of rules involving the women. For the City Qualifiers, the top 5 women would definitely move onto the Finals, and in the Finals the top 2 women would move onto the Vegas Finals. Of course, if more than 5 women crack the Top 30 or more than 2 crack the top 15, more will move on; however, at least 12 women will make it to the National Vegas Finals. I quite like this rule because it eliminated Wildcards. Last year, all the wild cards were given to women, which I did not like. Because of them, some women were in Vegas that didn't even do that well in their cities. For example, this year, if a woman can only complete three or four obstacles of the Qualifiers, they most likely won't make it to Vegas. This year, the women that compete in Vegas, will be more deserving. They will have actually made it decently far in their cities, unless they hit the buzzer, and will have more potential to do well in Vegas.
Anyway, in L.A. some big names were Kevin Bull, Grant McCartney, and Flip Rodriguez. Of course, both hit the buzzer with great times, McCartney with the fastest time of the night. Josh Levin, the rock climber on Team USA completed as did his friend Charlie Andrews (I believe that was his friend), Nick Hanson, the eskimo ninja, and Brian Wilczewski hit the buzzer. Veterans David Campbell and Alan Connealy moved on due to the farthest the fastest rule.
The women moving on were all impressive. Natalie Duran, friend of McCartney, Zhanique Lovett, Tiana Webberley, Rebekah Bonilla, and April Steiner Bennett, the Olympian were the five women to move onto the the City Finals. I specifically remember Lovett and Steiner Bennet, so I will definitely be looking out for them.
I love Kevin, he is one of my favorite competitors, and I can't wait to see him this year. He went out fairly early last year, so I can't wait to see him go farther. McCartney is also entertaining due to his dancing and easy-going personality.
I was disappointed to see that Levin, as well as many other finishers, were placed over commercial break. I realize that the screen time is not as important as finishing and moving on, but I would have liked to see him instead of his accomplishment just being a "while you were gone." ANW tends to do this, putting finishers on commercial break and show biographies of people who don't finish. Some people have some important stories to share that are inspiring and show strength and inspiration. Many of those involve poor childhoods or some rough illness, and those ones are more worth hearing than stories involving regular people. I find those a little less interesting or worth the time. If some stories were taken out, we could see the complete runs of more people like Levin and other finishers. If people have some sort of inspiration or drive or even if they are trying to prove something or trying to be a role model, sometimes a shoutout to those stories are okay, but about half of the ones I see seem less significant, especially when the person fails (not to sound heartless).
I know I am pretty negative and there are some thoughts I will share that not everyone will agree with and some people would get angry over, but I do want to be honest, and personal thoughts are the driving reasons behind blogs and other such related mediums. If I just put out the facts like the finishers or the rules, I would just writing what's on the website, or what you could figure out for yourself. I;m pretty sure I wrote something like this in a previous blog maybe my introduction, but I want to say it again, just because that last paragraph I know will ruffle some feathers.
Anyway, I'm really excited to see my favorites like Bull and Levin, even Rodriguez and McCartney (who Akbar and Matt totally fangirl over). I also think this year could be better for women. The new rules will cause a little more competition and rivalry among the women, but we will see the best of the best, and I definitely think there will be some great female athletes this year. I am particularly looking for Graff (obviously), and Meaghan, Michelle, Jessie LaBreck, and Kacy. It has been a few years since Kacy has been in the spotlight, but she still has a lot of potential and most likely has been working hard. She's had some trouble, I won't lie. I think she's only in the spotlight right now because they're forcing her in by interviewing her and hyping her up, but I really want to see her make it there legitimately and do great again. I'm also really looking forward to Jessie LaBreck. She was phenomenal last year. Her rookie year she made it to the 9th obstacle of her finals, and was on Team Matt for the All Stars episode as well as multiple of the competitions. She may be in Cleveland because she was on the East Coast last year, but since they aren't having an East Coast specific location, she could be anywhere. Her and Moravsky, Britten, Rahn, Richardson, or any of the East Coast regulars. I was on the look out for Nicholas Coolridge because he is amazing and he was in L.A. last year, but this year he is in San Antonio. I'm not sure many people care, but I do.
ANW does a pretty swell job of dispersing the big names. I know they even themselves out just due to where they live, but I noticed with Jessie Graff, they placed her in Daytona, Florida. I think this is to help the women in L.A., more women have a chance to make the 5 and 2. I'm excited for Drew, Joe, Najee, Geoff, Daniel, Kevin, Nicholas, all just to name a few. I'm really excited for the final city Denver, not because there will be a lot of my favorites but because it's a rock climbing city, and the rock climbers usually do really well (Isaac as the obvious example).
So overall, these are some of my first impressions and thoughts as the ANW 2017 season kicks off. The Qualifiers are less interesting because the course is shorter and there are a lot more people. The City finals are fun because it's really impressive to see which people can make it far, especially now with the courses being more difficult and the final obstacle was changed from the spider chimney to the invisible ladder. I think this last change makes the course so much harder. In the past couple seasons it has been in play, it has taken out some of the best and biggest names. I think the first season it was added, only 11 total completed the city finals. Last season had more finishers, I believe, but it has made it so that completing 9 of the 10 isn't it. The Spider Chimney used to be a sure thing, like the warped wall. It was a little easier because it used the whole body, and veterans could easily make it up. Now, the invisible ladder relies only on upper body strength, mostly, and presents quite a challenge. In general, the courses have been more difficult ever since the season 7 winners. Stage 3 has changed a lot, and even Stage 2 has been amped up, particularly with the new Wedge obstacle. Of course, the national finals in Vegas are the best because that's what everyone wants to really see. Those are the people that are truly the best of the best and can go far.
I'm really excited to see the old timers, but it is always great to see new faces and rookies.
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